''Whispering Smith'' is a 1948 American
Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
film directed by
Leslie Fenton
Leslie Fenton (12 March 1902 – 25 March 1978) was an English actor and film director. He appeared in more than 60 films between 1923 and 1945.
Early life
Fenton was born on 12 March 1902 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England. He emigrated to ...
and starring
Alan Ladd
Alan Walbridge Ladd (September 3, 1913 – January 29, 1964) was an American actor and film producer. Ladd found success in film in the 1940s and early 1950s, particularly in films noir and Westerns. He was often paired with Veronica Lake ...
as a railroad
detective
A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads th ...
assigned to stop a gang of train robbers. The supporting cast includes
Robert Preston,
Brenda Marshall
Brenda Marshall (born Ardis Ankerson; September 29, 1915Some question exists regarding the exact date of her birth. An article in the December 31, 1939, issue of the '' Salt Lake Tribune'' says that she was born November 29, 1915. – July 3 ...
and
Donald Crisp
Donald William Crisp (27 July 188225 May 1974) was an English film actor as well as an early producer, director and screenwriter. His career lasted from the early silent film era into the 1960s. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor ...
.
The picture is based on a
novel
A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...
by
Frank H. Spearman
Frank Hamilton Spearman (September 6, 1859 – December 29, 1937) was an American writer.
Career overview
Spearman was known for his books in the Western fiction genre and especially for his fiction and non-fiction works on the topic of railr ...
and a previous
1926 film adaptation starring
H. B. Warner
Henry Byron Warner (born Henry Byron Lickfold, 26 October 1876 – 21 December 1958) was an English film and theatre actor. He was popular during the silent era and played Jesus Christ in '' The King of Kings''. In later years, he successfu ...
.
Plot
The bad Barton boys—Blake, Leroy, and Gabby—rob a train and shoot a guard. Luke Smith, known as "Whispering" to some for his quiet ways, is a detective for the railroad sent to investigate.
Murray Sinclair, an old friend of Smith's, is in charge of the railroad's wrecking crew. He's glad to see Smith, who shoots Leroy and Gabby and is saved when a bullet is deflected by a harmonica in his pocket, given him long ago by his sweetheart Marian, who is now Sinclair's wife.
It saddens Smith to find out that Sinclair might be in cahoots with Barney Rebstock, a rancher with a bad reputation. Rebstock has been hiding the remaining Barton brother, Blake, who is tracked down by Smith.
Whitey DuSang is a hired gun for Rebstock, who wants to see Smith dead. When the railroad's boss gives Sinclair an order, Sinclair rebels and is fired. Rebstock hires him to pull off a string of daring train holdups.
Smith forms a posse. Whitey kills a guard and betrays Rebstock, shooting him. Sinclair is wounded. Smith does away with Whitey but gives his old friend Sinclair a last chance. When Sinclair rides home, he finds Marian packing and strikes her, accusing her of leaving him for Smith.
Smith shows up and Sinclair apologises for his actions. He seems sincere, but when Smith's back is turned, Sinclair pulls a hidden gun. Before he can fire, Sinclair falls over and dies from his wound. Smith leaves town, his work there done.
Cast
*
Alan Ladd
Alan Walbridge Ladd (September 3, 1913 – January 29, 1964) was an American actor and film producer. Ladd found success in film in the 1940s and early 1950s, particularly in films noir and Westerns. He was often paired with Veronica Lake ...
as Whispering Smith
*
Robert Preston as Murray Sinclair
*
Brenda Marshall
Brenda Marshall (born Ardis Ankerson; September 29, 1915Some question exists regarding the exact date of her birth. An article in the December 31, 1939, issue of the '' Salt Lake Tribune'' says that she was born November 29, 1915. – July 3 ...
as Marian Sinclair
*
Donald Crisp
Donald William Crisp (27 July 188225 May 1974) was an English film actor as well as an early producer, director and screenwriter. His career lasted from the early silent film era into the 1960s. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor ...
as Barney Rebstock
*
William Demarest
Carl William Demarest (February 27, 1892 – December 27, 1983) was an American character actor, known especially for his roles in screwball comedies by Preston Sturges and for playing Uncle Charley in the sitcom ''My Three Sons'' Demarest, w ...
as Bill Dansing
*
Fay Holden
Dorothy Fay Hammerton (26 September 1893 – 23 June 1973), known professionally as Fay Holden, was a British-born, American-based actress. She was known as Gaby Fay early in her career.
Biography
Holden was born in Birmingham, England. After ...
as Emmy Dansing
*
Murvyn Vye
Marvin Wesley Vye Jr. (July 15, 1913 – August 17, 1976) was an American character actor. He is best known for portraying Prince Ken Arok in the comedy film ''Road to Bali''.
Early years
Vye was born in Quincy, Massachusetts, and educat ...
as Blake Barton
*
Frank Faylen
Frank Faylen (born Charles Francis Ruf, December 8, 1905 – August 2, 1985) was an American film and television actor. Largely a bit player and character actor, he occasionally played more fleshed-out supporting roles during his forty-two ...
as Whitey Du Sang
*
John Eldredge
John Eldredge (born June 6, 1960 in Los Angeles) is an American author, counselor, and lecturer on Christianity. He is known for his best-selling book '' Wild at Heart''.
Life and work
Eldregde received his undergraduate degree in theater from ...
as George McCloud
*
Ward Wood
Ward Wood (August 8, 1924 – November 3, 2001), was an American actor and television writer. Wood was probably best known for his recurring role as police Lt. Art Malcolm in the TV series '' Mannix'' from 1968 to 1975.
Wood was born in Grange ...
as Leroy Barton (as Robert Wood)
*
J. Farrell MacDonald
John Farrell MacDonald (June 6, 1875 – August 2, 1952) was an American character actor and director. He played supporting roles and occasional leads. He appeared in over 325 films over a four-decade career from 1911 to 1951, and directed fort ...
as Bill Baggs
*
Will Wright as Sheriff McSwiggin
*
Don Barclay as Dr. Sawbuck
*
Eddy Waller
Edward Carlingford Waller (June 14, 1889 – August 20, 1977) was an American stage, film and television actor.
Early years
Born in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, he was a son of the Rev. Thomas M. Waller, a Presbyterian minister, and Anna Tay ...
as Conductor (as Eddy Waller)
* Ashley Cowan as Brakeman
* Jimmie Dundee as Karg
*
Ray Teal
Ray Elgin Teal (January 12, 1902 – April 2, 1976) was an American actor.The book ''Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory'' gives Teal's birth date as January 12, 1908. His most famous role was as Sheriff Roy Coffee on the televis ...
as Seagrue
*
Bob Kortman
Robert F. Kortman (December 24, 1887 – March 13, 1967) was an American film actor mostly associated with westerns, though he also appeared in a number of Laurel and Hardy comedies. He appeared in more than 260 films between 1914 and 1952. ...
as Gabby Barton
Production
The film was announced in early 1947 as a vehicle for Alan Ladd. It was Ladd's first Western and his first movie in colour.
The script made a number of changes to the original novel including changing the double love story to one.
Brenda Marshall was given her first screen role in four years. Filming began on 14 April 1947.
The role of Whispering Smith was partly based on
Jake Lefors
Jake may refer to:
Name
* Jake (given name), including a list of persons and fictional characters with the name
* Katrin Jäke (born c. 1975), German swimmer
* Jake (gamer), American ''Overwatch'' player and coach
Animals
* Jake (rescue dog), a ...
. The part of Murray Sinclair, Smith's friend who turns to crime, was supposedly inspired by
Butch Cassidy
Robert LeRoy Parker (April 13, 1866 – November 7, 1908), better known as Butch Cassidy, was an American train and bank robber and the leader of a gang of criminal outlaws known as the "Wild Bunch" in the Old West.
Parker engaged in crimina ...
.
The filmmakers built a Western town on five acres of the backlot at a cost of $70,000. It included 2000 feet of railroad track on which authentic 1870 locomotives owned by Paramount were operated. The trains were converted from their original wood-burning fuel system to oil by their original owner, the Virginia & Truckee Railroad of Carson City, Nevada.The set was later re-used in many later TV shows and films, including ''
Bonanza
''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 13, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 432 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running western, the second-longest-running western series on U ...
''.
Reception
The film was not released until 1949, by which time Paramount had made and released another Ladd film, ''
Beyond Glory
''Beyond Glory'' is a 1948 American drama film directed by John Farrow and starring Alan Ladd and Donna Reed. Written by William Wister Haines, Jonathan Latimer, and Charles Marquis Warren, the film is about a former soldier who thinks he may have ...
''.
The film was popular with audiences. According to ''Variety'' it was the 20th-most popular film in the US and Canada in 1949. It was also one of the most watched films of the year in the UK.
Possible follow up
Sol Lesser
Sol Lesser (February 17, 1890 – September 19, 1980) was an American film producer. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960 and was awarded the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1961.
Biography
In 1913, while living in San F ...
, who had rights to ten ''Whispering Smith'' stories, wanted to film some of them with
Robert Mitchum
Robert Charles Durman Mitchum (August 6, 1917 – July 1, 1997) was an American actor. He rose to prominence with an Academy Award nomination for the Best Supporting Actor for ''The Story of G.I. Joe'' (1945), followed by his starring in ...
,
who had begun his career as a leading man in a pair of
Zane Grey
Pearl Zane Grey (January 31, 1872 – October 23, 1939) was an American author and dentist. He is known for his popular adventure novels and stories associated with the Western genre in literature and the arts; he idealized the American frontie ...
Westerns. These films were not made. However,
Audie Murphy
Audie Leon Murphy (20 June 1925 – 28 May 1971) was an American soldier, actor and songwriter. He was one of the most decorated American combat soldiers of World War II. He received every military combat award for valor available from t ...
later starred in a ''Whispering Smith'' TV series.
References
External links
*
*
* {{AFI film, id=25808, title=Whispering Smith
1948 films
1940s historical films
1948 Western (genre) films
American historical films
American Western (genre) films
Films scored by Adolph Deutsch
Films based on American novels
Films based on Western (genre) novels
Films directed by Leslie Fenton
Paramount Pictures films
Rail transport films
1940s English-language films
1940s American films